Greenwood Lakes Water Reclamation Facility Improvements

The Greenwood Lakes Water Reclamation Facility (WRF) has undergone several process modifications since its construction in the 1980s. The County’s wastewater master plan included a recommendation that the facility be re-rated to provide 3.0-MGD of treatment capacity using the existing 2.5-MGD carrousel process. The County requested that Reiss provide preliminary evaluations, permitting, final design, bidding, and construction engineering inspection services as the Engineer of Record for rehabilitation and construction necessary to achieve a permitted capacity of 3.0-MGD.

Following design and permitting of the facility, Reiss was responsible for the bidding and construction engineering inspection of the facility improvements. Periodic site visits during construction were performed to observe the progress and quality of the work to ensure that the County’s project intentions and expectations were being executed. Reiss also reviewed all change order requests by the contractor and made recommendations to the County for denial, acceptance or negotiation as necessary. Following the construction phase, Reiss performed an instrumental role in troubleshooting and start-up of the facility equipment.

Several challenges identified by the contractor were resolved with proper engineering review and inspection resulting in trivial remedies. Reiss obtained all necessary permit certifications required and submitted a report to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) to ensure the design met its permitting qualifications.

Several months after the facility was transferred back to full County operation, the lead operator for the County’s WRF noted “This design and construction project should be the model for engineer and contractor delivery of a construction project.” The operational improvements at this facility resulted in significantly improved treatment and effluent nutrient reductions that contributed to Seminole County’s receipt of the 2014 Earl B. Phelps Award for Outstanding Wastewater Treatment Operations in Florida.